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Eastern Refinery Limited processing facility
The government has decided to import 1.4 million metric tonnes of crude oil from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2027 to process at Eastern Refinery Limited (ERL), the country's sole state-owned oil refinery.
Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) will import the petroleum on a government-to-government (G2G) basis directly from Saudi Aramco and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC).
The in-principle approval was granted during a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs held at the Secretariat in Dhaka on Wednesday (October 7), chaired by Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury.
Following a proposal placed by the Energy and Mineral Resources Division, approval was accorded to procure the crude petroleum via the Direct Procurement Method (DPM). The procurement will be financed through a credit facility provided by the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC).
According to the Energy and Mineral Resources Division, BPC has long been procuring crude oil from Saudi Aramco and ADNOC under G2G frameworks for refinement at ERL. The aging processing facilities of Eastern Refinery are specifically suited and economically optimal for processing "Arabian Light Crude" from Aramco and "Murban Crude" from ADNOC. Furthermore, reliable supplies of these crude grades in requisite quantities cannot be guaranteed from alternative suppliers, necessitating the use of DPM in the public interest.
Additionally, the committee approved a proposal to reduce the time limit for preparing and submitting international open tenders for BPC's refined fuel imports from 42 days to 21 days for the January–June 2027 period.
In a separate decision, the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase approved the import of 40,000 metric tonnes of DAP fertilizer from Morocco at a cost of Tk 427.80 crore. Procured under a state-level contract from Morocco's OCP Nutricrops SA as an optional fifth lot, the fertilizer will be brought in by the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) through budgetary agricultural subsidies.
https://thedailyexpress.news/news/business/1f1c279a-0314-6190-a32e-523345f01f85